Monday, August 29, 2016

Italian Citizenship: Success!

Today
I had my appointment at the Italian consulate in Houston to present
my documentation to claim my Italian citizenship.

It went far better than I could
have expected.

The consulate is located on the 6th
floor of the Wells Fargo Tower on Post Oak Boulevard in Houston. I
arrived about a half-hour early for my 9:00 am appointment.
Unfortunately, they do not actually open until 9:00 am, so I and
seven other people also waiting for appointments had to stand around
in the hallway for a half-hour or so, without even any chairs to sit
on. (To be fair, there is a little lobby area with seating on the 1st
floor. But most of us didn't go down there, we just waited outside
the consulate door leaning against the walls.)

A minute or two after 9:00 they
unlocked the door. I was the first one in. I signed in on the sign-in
sheet, and was directed to window #3 -- a bank teller-like window,
but with two comfortable chairs to sit on. You pass your documents
through a little slot in the plexiglass divider.

A few moments later, a fairly
cheerful-looking lady arrived, said "Buongiorno," asked me
how I was doing, and then pretty much got down to business. I found
out later her name is Valentina, but she did not introduce herself at
this time.

She first asked for my passport and my
driver's license or other proof of residence, which I gave her. She
then asked for Form 1, which is the basic application and details the
line through which I am claiming. She looked that over, then asked me
for the $339 fee, which I gave her in cash in the exact amount. She
also had me sign Form 1 for her.

She excused herself for a moment, and
said she would return with my receipt. She brought my documents with
her and, I presume, made copies of them. She returned in a few
moments and gave me a copy of Form 1 with the receipt stamped on it,
as well as my passport and license.

Then we got down to the nitty-gritty.
My line is my grandfather, to my father, to me. So she asked for my
grandfather's birth certificate. She examined it briefly, then asked
for his naturalization papers.

This is where I had the most worries. I
had the NARA documents which provide all the basics of the
naturalization, including the court order and certificate number. But
I have not yet received the actual naturalization certificate from
USCIS (which I ordered in April!). I was hoping this would not be too
serious of a problem.

I gave her the NARA documents, which
she examined approvingly. I noted her nodding her head as she was
going through these documents, and I took that to be an encouraging
sign. As long as she is nodding, I figured, I am good.

Then she asked for the naturalization
certificate.

I told her that I had not yet received
it, although I had ordered it in April. She said -- to my immense
relief and surprise -- that that would not be a problem. For the "completeness
of my file," she asked that I forward it to her when I receive
it. But she said it was "not necessary" to have it in order
to proceed.

Whew!

She then asked if I had my
grandmother's birth certificate. I did, and I gave it to her. She
asked if my grandparents were married in Italy or here. I told her
they were married here, and slid the marriage certificate through the
slot.

She examined the certificate, comparing
the names to the birth certificates. She then looked at the
translation, comparing that to the original certificate. All the
while, she was nodding her head. I was breathing a little easier.

Next was my father's birth certificate.
Then his marriage certificate and my mother's birth certificate.
Again, she compared everything to the previous certificates, and
compared the translations to the originals. Again, I noticed her
nodding to herself a few times through the process.

Then she commented to me that she was
very pleased with the Delaware marriage certificates -- both my
parents and my grandparents had been married in Delaware. She said
these marriage certificates provided all the information about the
bride and groom, including their parents' names and places of birth.
She said many certificates simply said that "so-and-so married
so-and-so," without providing any other details -- and it is
those details that she needs in order to verify that the correct
people are being married.

She then asked if my father was still
alive. I said no, so she asked for his death certificate, which I
gave her.

Then it was my documents: birth
certificate and marriage certificate, which I provided her. I was
married in New Hampshire and they, too, include the information about
the parents of the bride and groom. Again, she compared things to the
previous certificates and nodded her head a few times.

She asked if I had my wife's birth
certificate. I did, and gave it to her. She said she wanted this
because the marriage certificate only said my wife had been born in
"Maine," but to properly complete their forms, they needed
the city of her birth as well.

At this point, she told me that
everything seemed to be in order. She repeated that she would need
the naturalization certificate to complete my file, but that she
could actually process everything without it.

Then she asked for the remaining forms:
Form 2 (my declaration that I have never renounced Italian
citizenship) and Form 4 (the declaration of deceased ascendants).

I gave her Form 2. She looked it over,
returned it to me to sign, then I returned it to her.

I then gave her Form 4 for my
grandfather. She looked at it for a moment, then told me that she
didn't really need it. My grandfather, she said, lost his Italian
citizenship when he became a U.S. citizen. The Italian government
already knew that, and did not need to verify that he did not
renounce it. She made a distinction between "losing" his
citizenship by naturalizing in the U.S. and "renouncing"
his citizenship formally -- apparently this is an important legal
distinction in Italian law. So she gave me back that form and said I
did not even need to submit it.

Then I gave her the Form 4 for my
father. She examined it, I signed it, and gave it back to her.

Finally, the AIRE registry form. Again,
she looked it over, filled in "Giusvalla" (my grandfather's
birthplace) as the comune of reference (i.e., the town where all of
my paperwork will be filed), and had me sign it.

At that point -- and much to my
surprise -- she leaned back in her chair, got a big smile across her
face, and said to me, "I wish they were all that easy."

I tried to control my ecstasy....

She said my documents were "perfect."
Seriously, that is the word she used. She said it's surprising how
many people show up with bad documents, incorrect documents,
incomplete documents. I was lacking the naturalization certificate,
but that didn't seem to bother her. She mentioned that my line was
fairly straightforward, "but even so..." she said.

Moral of the story: Make sure your
documents are in order. It will make you stand out in a good way.

She then went over with me what will
happen next: She will start a file for me and place it into the
processing queue. Within about four weeks, my information (birth and
marriage) will be filed in Giusvalla, and she will send me an email
telling me I am officially recognized as an Italian citizen. At that
point, I can apply for my Italian passport. She went over with me the
various rights and responsibilities of citizenship. She reminded me
to send in the naturalization certificate when I received it.

And then, about a half-hour after we
started, we were done.

I am extremely fortunate. I only
discovered I am entitled to Italian citizenship last November 30th.
It is now nine months later and I am basically approved. Within
another month, approval should be official, and maybe another month
after that and I will have a passport. Less than a year from start to
finish.

There are people for whom this process
takes years -- two years simply to get an appointment, another two
years' wait while the authorities process the request. That is in the
U.S. In South America, the situation is far worse, requiring 10-20
years -- you read that correctly -- to go through the process.

A process of claiming what is
rightfully yours by birth. Not asking for something new, but simply
claiming something you already have.

I am a very fortunate guy....

I am not fortunate alone, however. I
need to thank Audra de Falco for her accurate translations of my
documents. The Dual U.S.-Italian Citizenship group on Facebook
for all kinds of help and support throughout the process. And
Avepally on Fiverr for quickly and inexpensively obtaining my
grandmother's birth certificate from Italy when I was unable to do
so.

5 comments:

This is awesome! I'm so happy for you! This sheds light on how they run things there now. Good to know that I'd need to be there early (it's drilled in my head 'to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late and to be late is inexcusable' )How great is it to finally be able to say "Sono Italiano!" ?

Hasn't altogether sunk in yet, to be honest, Whitney. They seem like good people there. I was kind of nervous, because as you know there is not much news out of Houston, at least that I knew about, and they had apparently been shut down to new applications for a long time. But this lady was very nice. Just make sure you have all your documents, and any major discrepancies are corrected. (She didn't worry about things like Giuseppe -> Joseph or Maria -> Mary.)

Hi, my Houston appointment is in February and I'm seeking through my GGF. May I ask you a couple of questions? 1) on the consulate application, do I need to complete all sections (GGF, GF, F, & all maternal, as well)? Or just some portion?2) Do I need Form four for my GGF, my US born GF and F? (My GGF never naturalized, and I've got the certified documentation for that, I'm just curious about the form 4 for my deceased GF & F.Lastly, on the Declaration/Self-Certification (the Form in Italian on Consulate website) I'm confused about the declaration section (are they asking whether I'm married, my education and profession and my parents, or does this refer to my GGF?)I feel a little silly not being able to figure this out, as I fill out legal documents for a living. Any help GREATLY appreciated!

Hi, Mary, good luck on your appointment! On your questions: For Form 1, I completed the sections for everybody -- GF, GM, F, M. Don't know for sure if we "have to," but I figured it wouldn't hurt. :-) For Form 4, you need one for everyone in your direct line: GGF, GF, F. The reason is that, if any of them renounced their Italian citizenship, then it might break the line of transmission. So the consulate needs to verify that none of them formally renounced.